The heart of the Police

There is no end to what the police could have done to help that boy that day, but it was definitely not to stand and gawk. Gawking is not on police syllabus

I recently read a book that had a chapter titled ‘The Heart of a Curate’. The chapter talked about many things the heart of a curate should or should not contain. Naturally, the most basic ingredient to be looked for in a curate’s heart is selfless love, even for God’s own worst creatures like a serial murderer. Conversely, that heart should not contain anything like selfishness or self-preservation at the expense of even the littlest of God’s own creatures.

That made me wonder: what really is at the core of the heart of Nigerians as one group? I suppose that will require a large study that will involve not only psychologists, sociologists, pathologists, etc., but also surgeons. Oh yes, dear people, we may need to slice open a few hearts to confirm what we have always feared: the heart of your Nigerian is black at the core. How do I know this? Listen to me now as I tell you.

A story broke during the week that fairly tore at everyone’s heart. A helpless four-year old boy found himself being mauled by a pair of the landlord’s dogs gone out of control. With unrestrained fangs, the dogs were said to have torn open the lil `un’s scalp, in addition to inflicting all kinds of injuries on him. That is so scary; at least it was to those standing around him watching the event. Yes sir, some brave ones were daring enough to watch. Not me.

What surprises me (I don’t know about you) is the fact that the report says that there were policemen among the watchers of the gory and goring event. Apparently, the residents who were overcome by the happening at its start had gone to call in the police who came to the scene but promptly became overcome too. They must have exclaimed ‘what the …?!’ when they saw the boy being mauled by the pair of dogs. When I read the report, I also echoed ‘what the …?! Not again!’ about the policemen’s inaction.

I hesitate to say that the police were helpless (even though one of them was said to have exclaimed something to the effect of ‘Who wants to die?’), but clearly, they did not meet the high general expectation. And this is not the first time. Remember the one that happened somewhere on the outskirts of Port Harcourt some years ago when some students were torn apart by an angry mob as some policemen watched? There was also outrage because the rest of us humanity were and are still operating within a particular framework in which the police are expected to have a heart.

Normally, the heart of the police is expected to contain many things. First of all, at the core of the heart of a policeman, slice it ever which way you will, resides the most important ingredient: that willingness to serve and protect. When he leaves home in the morning to report for duty, he is not sure in what capacity he is going to serve the public, but his readiness is never in doubt. So, many a policeman has found himself climbing up fifty-foot trees just to retrieve a drunken fellow; they have also been known to have climbed down twenty-foot wells to bring out many an errant child or adult; they have had to wait on old ladies for minutes on end; they have also had to slug it out with armed bandits, robbers or highway men… Obviously, when duty calls for the police, nature is the grand discriminator.

Whoever needs to be served, the heart of the police is self-sacrificing, even for stupid drunks. Unfortunately, this essential ingredient of service has somehow metamorphosed in the heart of the police in Nigeria to mean service to big men only, like the rest of us. And so, the policemen called upon that day did not serve that little boy when he needed them most.

Naturally, in order to serve, the police need to be strong-hearted. This ingredient is so important that I believe it constitutes part of the qualities demanded of a recruit. Indeed, he is expected to be physically strong enough to beat a robber under the table and not to be the one cowering under himself; mentally strong enough to anticipate the moves of the most slippery fish; spiritually strong enough not to go around suspecting that everyone and everything is against him. Again, unfortunately, this important ingredient appears to have dissolved into ineffectuality around here. Many tales abound of the police politely giving robbers the right of way.

Above all, the heart of the police needs to contain wiliness and intelligence. This is because many a situation, not to talk of the antics of sociopaths and psychopaths, can tax the average brain. I imagine that this ingredient was sorely lacking in the policemen that answered the call to come to that little boy’s rescue. It could also be that they missed out on the lectures on how to rescue someone being attacked by an animal. So, they did not know how to distract an attacking animal with a decoy while the victim is snatched off… or to tie up exposed parts of the body with some hard materials like jute before accosting a wild animal… or to call the mother of the victim… Oh dear, there is no end to what they could have done but it was definitely not to stand and gawk. Gawking is not on police syllabus.

Seriously, what has so corrupted the heart of the police in Nigeria that makes its men stand by and gawk at evil again and again? Here we are, all the while being told that when you call the police, their training ensures that they will help you in your dire need, even give you their salary. And there they are, conditionalising their help. God will save us.

The incident above clearly points again to the endless number of lapses in the running of the police system in Nigeria. It has been remarked again and again that there has been a systematic dehumanisation of the police by the nation’s leaders, yet not much has been done to restore its humanisation. The very essence of the police has been devalued by the currents of things thrown at them, most notably their poor and insufficient kitting out, not to talk of the poor arms they give them to carry.

It is also well known now that every segment of the Nigerian populace calculates everything in terms of the naira and kobo value: what’s in it for me? I believe the police are not different. This means that to a man, you, me, your police, etc., now believe that the incentive to act is inversely proportional to the risk investment in a venture. Should I rescue a man from inside a well? Yes if a) he will be grateful; b) his folks will be grateful; c) if he will settle a large endowment on me afterwards. Should I rescue a child from dogs? Yes if a) his folks will take care of my people should I die in the process; b) there will be a large settlement; c) they will settle me… If none of the above will follow, then no. Naturally, this calculation takes place within nanoseconds.

What’s in the heart of the police in Nigeria? I don’t know. But let’s have a change of that heart, police people. Serving in the police is all about going out on a limb. The heart of the police should not be different from that of a curate after all. It must be motivated by a selfless desire to serve the public.